Reassurances
by Mirthless Laughter
Summary: Relationships between agents were not supposed to work. A different take on what Kate says in "Minimum Security". KIBBS! One-shot.


**Disclaimer: **It's as simple as this: it's not mine.  
**Rating: **T, for safety and romantic gestures  
**Summary: **Relationships between agents were not supposed to work. A different take on what Kate says in "Minimum Security". KIBBS! One-shot.  
**A/N: **My first shot at writing unestablished romance for a series. Fun, fun. ;-) I know most people interpret that scene as being a reference to Jenny, but... I live in my own world. xD

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**Gibbs**: Romance between agents, Kate? ... It never works.  
**Kate**: You speaking from experience?

~ Minimum Security, _Season One, Episode Eight_

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_**Reassurances**

Kate stood awkwardly in the doorway of Gibbs' basement, uncertain about her place in this situation. She'd managed to brush aside his comment it Gitmo, but it had come rushing back to her full-force while she'd observed Tony and Paula flirting without qualms on the plane, and she'd been unable to get it out of her head since. Coming out of a relationship with a now-dead soldier after her career in the Secret Service, she'd already had a bushel of knowledge how quickly relationships in the job could turn ill. Not necessarily because the relationship wasn't good, but because if you had a fight, how were you to work as though you hadn't? And if you didn't have a fight, how did you act as though you were just friends --- or, even harder, just co-workers?

But it hadn't taken her more than a week on Gibbs' team to learn that they didn't play by the rules. No more than a month before she'd found herself entangled in his arms in his basement, enjoying kisses she knew she shouldn't have been taking.

For a long minute, she just stood there, staring down at him. He was working on his boat, as he often was, and he didn't seem to take any notice of her; but she figured he probably knew she was standing there nonetheless, because it seemed to her that he always did. The fact that he knew she was there and had yet to acknowledge her rightly infuriated her, and she cleared her throat, purposely drawing his attention in her direction.

He glanced up lazily, his blue eyes briefly focusing on her before skirting back down to the wood again. "You just gonna stand there all night, Kate?"

Kate remained where she was, her own eyes dark. "Didn't know if I'd be welcomed after what you said."

If Gibbs was at a loss for knowing what she meant by that statement, it didn't show. His eyes flickered back at her for a second; then, he lifted his shoulders in a half-shrug. "Door was unlocked, wasn't it?"

Kate didn't know what to make of that, but she finally caved, seeing that Gibbs wasn't going to give her more. She walked swiftly down the steps, walked over to the boat, and reclined against it.

Gibbs, apparently, didn't mind the silence.

"Look. Gibbs." Kate still hadn't come even close to bridging the gap and calling the older man _Jethro_, even though they'd gotten dangerously close to getting it on right there in his basement a few days ago. "If you want this to be over, you could just end it, Gibbs. There's no reason why we can't settle this like reasonable a---"

She didn't get a chance to finish that statement, because the next thing she knew, he was looking her full in the face, his eyes unreadable. He stepped forward, and her breath caught; and then, suddenly, his lips were against hers.

It wasn't a kiss born of sweetness, the gentle kind of kiss she imagined Tony used when he tickled a woman's fancies for the first time. It was rather a harsh, passionate kiss instead, one which required that she use all her effort to give back in full. They were both far too stubborn to relinquish the reins of the relationship to the other, and it resulted in kisses like these, harsh but nonetheless full of gentleness. Kate was not about to back down; she could kiss just as hard and as long as Gibbs, and she would willingly prove it.

This time, for once, he stopped the kiss first.

"So." Kate said, a bit breathless. "I'm guessing that's a no?"

Gibbs' lips curled upward in the slightest of smiles. He traced her cheek with one of his callused fingers, running it slow down to rest on her unpainted lips. "Ya think, Kate?"


End file.
